Eglantine's Story
by SnowyJay
Summary: have you ever wondered what happened in the place? I have. So i decided to write about it. Eglantine's point of view.
1. Soren Disappears

**This is the first story that I'm writing for fanfiction. I hate having to wait for two days and I uploaded it as soon as it let me. Please review it! **

**Eglantine's Story**

**DISCLAMER: The category of this story is Guardians of Ga'hoole and does not belong to me. It was written by Kathryn Lasky.**

**Chapter 1: Soren Disappears**

Eglantine was in the nest with her two brothers; Soren and Kludd and also the nest maid snake, Mrs. Plithiver. Eglantine didn't like Kludd as much as Soren because Kludd always glared and rarely spoke to her, which was completely different from Soren. Mum and Da had gone hunting outside after Da told them a story about the Guardians of Ga'hoole hunting and it was dark outside because owls are of course nocturnal.

Eglantine settled next to Soren and cherished his warmth. Soren smiled down at her. She stared into the distance and began to think. Eglantine loved to think, especially because Mum says she would get tired to play for a long time.

'Soren?' Eglantine called.

'Yes?' Soren replied.

'Do you know how Da said that that there was a kingdom called Ga'Hoole?' Eglantine asked curiously. 'How it existed at the time of Glaux?'

'Yes. What of it Eglantine?'

'Well, does that mean that they don't exist now?'

'I'm not sure. But they might still exist, in the Sea of Hoolemere.' Soren answered. 'At least, I like to believe so.'

Kludd sneered. 'Of course you do. You two had better grow up. I'm tired of your baby talk.'

Eglantine was starting to feel very drowsy because she had been playing all night. She could see that dawn was almost coming through the streaks of light that now stretched over the sky. She settled her head, which was still grey and soft from being a newborn, onto her chest she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

While she was sleeping, she felt Soren jerk away but she was too deep in dreams to notice.

A shrill hoot jerked her awake. It was her mother.

'What is it, Mum?' Eglantine mumbled blinking her sleepy eyes to focus. That's when she realised that the sun had a way to go before it set and her eyes weren't used to light yet.

'He's gone!' Mum screeched in horror, 'Soren's gone!' With that she lifted off to search frantically with Da mumbling to Mrs. P to look after Eglantine and Kludd with a concerned look that she had never seen on his face. It was terribly disturbing. His eyes were such a deep black and there were such a sharp reflections in them. Eglantine shuddered. _I hope I never have to se such a sad face ever again._


	2. The Kidnapping

**Hi again! This is the second chapter. Hope you enjoy reading it!**** And hey, I said 'please' review the last chapter didn't I? T.T**

**Chapter 2: ****The Kidnapping –786**

A week passed since Soren had mysteriously disappeared and everyone thought that the racoons or rats had eaten him. But it seemed Mrs. Plithiver was most disturbed by what had happened. She had a distracted air about her and she was almost always lost in thought.

What was most unusual didn't even compare to Mrs. Plithiver, Eglantine had been noticing that Kludd had recently been disappearing when Mum and Da had to go out hunting again. He always went for a couple of hours and returned with scratches and bruises. This always scared Mum and Da out of their minds and Mrs. Plithiver always interrogated him with such fierceness when he returned, but he always lied, saying he tried to go hunting or he chased off a racoon for the better of the family.

Eglantine knew for certain that these were lies because as Kludd always came home before Mum and Da had returned from their hunting trips and threatened her to be quiet, saying that he would leave her out for the racoons if she told Mum and Da.

Eglantine was watching the sun begin go down as she usually did. This was her favourite time to think. Mrs. Plithiver slithered up to her.

'What's wrong, dear?' Mrs. Plithiver asked her with a worried voice. This always amazed Eglantine. She still couldn't believe that nest maid snakes, even though they had no eyes, had keener senses than most snakes, or owls for that matter, seemed to be able to see all that was around her.

'I was wondering whether I should tell Mum and Da about where Kludd's been going.' Eglantine murmured. Then her eyes widened as she realized what she had just said and she clamped her beak shut.

'Where Kludd has been going?' Mrs. P repeated in a shocked tone then quickly quietened to a whisper 'I always suspected he'd been lying but I could never

prove it. Is it true?'

'Yes, Mrs. P,' Eglantine whispered back, emotions poured out of her eyes as she told Mrs. Plithiver how Kludd had threatened her. 'But how did you know that he was lying?'

'I've always suspected that he was a bad egg, ever since he hatched. Also, I believe that he was the one who pushed Soren out of the nest.' Mrs. Plithiver said desolately.

'Pushed Soren out of the nest?' Eglantine gasped. 'Kludd's always bullied Soren and me but I didn't know that he hated us that much!'

'Nor I, Eglantine, but the unexpected always happens somehow. I fear Kludd is just starting to realise his dark side, I wish I could help but I am nothing more than a nest maid.'

'You're not just a nest maid, Mrs. Plithiver!' Eglantine protested. 'You always sense more than anyone and you are very wise too!'

Mrs. Plithiver shook her head. 'You have such a kind and caring soul, Eglantine. But Kludd can not be reasoned with such a soul.' With that, Mrs. Plithiver slithered back into her part of the hollow.

Neither of them knew that it would be the last time they would see each other…

Mum and Da went off to hunt as soon as they woke as usual and Mrs. Plithiver slithered down the trunk of the tree in search of moss. The day started as usual, but as soon as they left, Kludd rounded on Eglantine, screeching, 'Don't you dare tell Mum and Da!' his eyes as cold as stones and his feathers puffed up to make him look twice his size. 'I told you I'd leave you out in the forest for the rats and racoons if you told them!'

'I—' Eglantine started. Her eyes filled with shock and fear.

'You rude little owlet!' Kludd screeched. 'I shouldn't leave you in the forest then.' He sneered making Eglantine tensed. 'I'll take you to a far worse place, at least for you that is.' With that, Kludd took off from the nest with Eglantine gripped tightly in his talons flying far away from all that she knew of.

She screeched and yelled but it was no use. The wind swept away all her efforts. She yelled until Kludd threatened to drop her into the strange forest below. Eglantine whimpered pitifully. She missed Soren a lot. If only Soren had been there. Or even if Kludd had abandoned her in the forest. Then she could be with Soren, who actually cared about her._ Not at all like Kludd._

**Well, now that you've read it, you'll review it **_**right?**_


	3. A Will to Fight For

**Sorry I haven't been writing for a while. I've kinda hit a barrier so the next chapter may or may not take a while to finish.**

**Chapter 3: A Will To Fight For**

Eglantine was dropped into a small clearing about a metre before she reached the ground. She yelped as she hit the forest floor with a hard thud whilst Kludd mockingly glided gracefully down. Eglantine's left foot was quite sore and was throbbing with pain from trying to stop her fall. She winced as she shakily pushed herself to her feet and looked around frantically to make out her surroundings even though she knew it was futile. Eglantine had never left the nest before and even from the nest, she could only see the winding thin branches and thick trunks that surrounded it. They were fig trees and she loved them especially, not only because she had never seen any other type of tree but because they bear fruit twice a year and had a lovely sweet smell that would make her feel relaxed and happy. These trees, however, were thick and their bark was cracked and hard. They did not have any leaves and yet their branches were dense enough for there to be only a little foliage and barely any light at all.

She turned to Kludd. His expression was masked but he showed no uncertainty to this wild dangerous forest. _He must be very familiar with this place, _thought Eglantine. _He isn't glancing at all at our surroundings._

Suddenly Kludd called confidently and loudly. 'COO coo ROO!' and the call swept through the forest even though it was dense, the trees rebounded the sound making it echo everywhere. A barn owl, just like Eglantine, appeared in the distance and she saw him swooping through the trees with such accuracy that he never touched any of the deadly thorns even at the speed he was going. Eglantine would have gasped in awe if it weren't for the situation that she was in. The owl flapped a giant gust of wind and stopped with deadly accuracy just centimetres in front of her. Eglantine stumbled backwards from the blast but quickly steadied herself.

'What do we have here?'

Eglantine stumbled into a hollow. Her injured left leg got caught on the hollow's entrance and she tripped, making an awkward entrance.

'Are you alright?' asked a concerned voice coming from the shadows inside the hollow on her right.

Eglantine jerked her head in the direction of the voice and her eyes adjusted to the darkness. It didn't take very long because owls were known for their vision. She saw a barn owl, just like herself and seemed to be her age too.

'I'm fine, thank you,' Eglantine said relieved and thankful for the kind gesture.

'I'm Noran,' Noran said, introducing himself, 'What's you're name?'

'I'm Eglantine. Where are we?' Eglantine asked even though she had hundreds of questions buzzing through her head.

'I'm not really sure yet, but I hear other owls calling it 'The Place.' Noran replied. 'I only got here yesterday. It's not so bad here but there are bad points about this place. You'll find one soon enough.' He said looking at the hollow's entrance to the streaks of light that marked the coming of dawn.

Eglantine peered out to the sky too, wondering what would happen. Then, she settled in a corner of the hollow and just like the other owlets in the hollow, she fell asleep with Noran settled beside her.

Something disrupted her sleep; Her head ached painfully. Eglantine tried to wake up but her eyes hurt. She could not move at all. _Am I dead?_ Eglantine thought frantically. An inaudible chant sounded through her head and made her skull seem as though it were hollow with the sound bouncing off the insides of it. It felt horrible. Eglantine felt herself losing the will to fight back against the pain and noise. She began to drift closer to submission and began to forget all of her memories. Suddenly, she heard a faint burst of what could have been left of her conscience.

_No. Fight back, Eglantine, _the voice pleaded. _you have to!_

_Who is it? _Eglantine thought bleakly. _Fight back against what? _Then she remembered who the voice belonged to. Noran!

Eglantine gathered her strength at that encouragement and she slowly and painfully blinked open her eyes. Her vision was blurred but it gradually cleared. Eglantine shook herself to get rid of the rest of the pain.

'Noran.' Eglantine said wearily at the panting figure in front of her.

'Thank goodness!' Noran sighed. 'You still remember.'

'What happened?' Eglantine asked as her memories came back to her.

'I'm not sure but I think that you lose everything that you know and everything that makes you unique while you sleep. I've survived these two times by waking up before the pain comes but we're the only ones that I know of who aren't affected. I can't seem to wake anyone else up.'

'What do you mean?' Asked Eglantine still confused.

'All the others seem to have lost their will power in their sleep and they just act weird when they wake up.' Noran explained even though he looked just as confused as she did.

'Thank you, Noran,' Eglantine said softy.

'What for?' Noran asked.

'For waking me up.'

'That's okay.' He smiled.

First night was still a little way off but the two owlets wouldn't go back to sleep. Afraid of what would happen. They settled in the corner and stared at the still death-like state of the owlets around them.

**I hope you liked it! I added a new character as you have already because I thought Eglantine must have made some friends in The Place right? :D I just realized, my chapters are getting longer and longer gradually. Which is good. XD**


	4. High Tyto

**SNOW IS BACK! XD yes. You may celebrate. **

**Sorry I haven't written anything in a while. I've been drawing more recently :P**

**Chapter 4: High Tyto**

Darkness fell over the already dark forest and the owls began to wake.

Eglantine yawned and her eye drooped as the sun disappeared over the horizon. She remembered how a while back, this was the same time in which she had last seen Soren. _Soren!_ In her lack of restful sleep, she almost mistook Noran for her brother. Noran had his eyes closed and was taking deep breathes but she knew that he wasn't completely asleep. He and Eglantine had been taking turns resting. As soon as one seemed to be entering the pain state, as they called it, the other would wake him or her up. Even though this meant that they were only getting half the rest, it was better than none at all.

Now that it was first black, Eglantine started rousing Noran from his sleep. 'Hey,' she said. 'Wake up!'

'Five more minutes,' Noran murmured unconsciously.

Eglantine groaned. She supposed he could have a bit more time; he _had_ been up for half the night. Anyway, as far as she knew, hey weren't meant to do anything in this new place anyway.

The other owlets in the hollow were stirring and began to wake up. As one of them blinked their eyes open, Eglantine gasped. Their eyes seemed extremely dull, lifeless, and most of all; sad. It almost seemed as though they were possessed and their memories and thoughts were trapped inside. Eglantine squeezed in behind Noran at the furthest side from the other owlets. Noran stirred at her movement and yawned as he woke up.

'What's wrong?' he asked sleepily when he noticed Eglantine shivering beside him. Eglantine only stared at the other zombie like owlets. Noran followed her gaze and realized what she was worried about.

'They're still owls so I don't think they'll hurt us. If this is what those owls that brought us here are doing, what would be the point of having them injure each other?' he said reassuringly. 'I think.'

A gust of wind blew through the hollow's entrance and a large owl landed on the branch outside. Eglantine waited nervously as the owl poked its head through and looked around at the owlets inside. Eglantine and Noran missed is glare as they were crammed in the shadows next to the entrance in fright.

'Okay, follow me,' the owl said in an authorized voice. He jumped off the branch and onto the ground which was about a metre and a half away.

One by one, the owlets jumped out not judging the distance at all, in fact, it looked as though they were just walking on normal flat ground. It amazed Eglantine that none of them fell over when they landed on the hard dusty ground below.

Eglantine was quite scared when it was her turn but was determined not to make a fool of herself even if it was just in front of zombie owls. Anyway, it would be bad if they found out that she wasn't hypnotized. She managed to jump down just like the others though she stumbled a bit when she forgot about her injured leg.

They all followed the sooty walking among the dead leaves and dirt until the thick trees cleared and they saw man owls, too many to count, flying around in a flurry of wings. It was almost too much for Eglantine to take in. She had never seen so many owls in her life, all of them were different, though they had the same features. _There__must__be__more__types__of__owls__than__this,_Eglantine thought looking around. In her father's stories, she had heard tales about owls that were a lot smaller, bigger, had different face shapes and even ones who preferred to walk rather than fly. Even so, she was awed at the amount of different owls, and how they flew so effortlessly, dodging the lethal spines of the trees.

'You will work here,' the owl said, snapping her attention back. He was gesturing to the cave entrance…

A few weeks later, Eglantine was rolling a rock about the size of an owlet's head. It had a few shiny pieces inside it, reflecting the moonlight. _It__'__s__pretty,_Eglantine thought. For her, it was the only positive side of working at the strange place, her feet were aching from rolling the rocks around and there seemed to be no end to the work load. She knew for a fact that owls her age didn't have to do such hard work. She sighed as she reached a pile of rocks where she deposited her rock.

'Okay! Break time!' shouted a large owl who was watching from the top of the cave entrance. He was Wortmore, a lieutenant. Eglantine didn't really care what the difference was between ranks. All she knew was that anyone with a position was just as bossy and conceited as the others.

An owlet sighed and sat down promptly beside her. She looked up to see Noran. He was just as tired as she was.

'Have you found out anything else about this place?' Noran asked.

'Yes, though I don't really know if it's useful,' Eglantine answered. 'Wortmore was talking to Uglamore about Kludd and Nyra being really nice to each other.'

'I heard that too, though I can't imagine either of them being nice at all,' Noran stopped cautious of Eglantine.

'It's alright,' Eglantine reassured him with a weak smile, 'I agree.'

'Why do you suppose they think less of those who aren't Tyto Alba?' she asked changing the subject.

'I don't really know, but we can't change that can we?' Noran answered looking at a grown Sooty being jeered at by others.

Eglantine glanced around. The other owlets that worked with them acted just like normal owls now, they didn't have zombie eyes or anything. They talked, acted and moved like regular owlets, it's hard to believe that they were ever any different. The thing that tried to lock them up inside themselves didn't come any more. Eglantine and Noran always had peaceful sleep. The place they were at wasn't that bad now, they could eat, sleep, and even though they had to work, it wasn't too bad.

'Hey there!' a voice called. Eglantine looked up to see Ayala. She was a pretty owlet, and had become friends with Eglantine since she had snapped out of her 'zombieness'

'Hello, Ayala,' Eglantine greeted her happily.

'Guys, I heard the High Tyto is coming around today!' Ayala squealed. 'I heard he's the bravest, coolest, strongest bird ever!' she continued squealing and yapping on about how awesome the Hight Tyto was that Eglantine didn't bother listening anymore.

Suddenly, she stopped. A figure glided down from the trees on the side of the clearing and stopped in front of Wortmore with his back towards them so she couldn't see her face. They were talking quietly and every now and then looking over to the pile of shiny metal they had made.

Eglantine looked over to Ayala; she hadn't been making a sound since the owl had arrived. Her eyes were glazed and she was staring straight at the owl, just like everyone else around them.

Then they started chanting. 'All praise High Tyto.'

**So how did you like this chapter? I hope you enjoyed it :D**

**~ SnowyJay**


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